Dwight Howard is going to snap. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, exactly what it’s going to entail, or which sad soul will take the brunt of it … but it’s coming.

Last night, Howard made 22 trips to the free-throw line in a win over the Pacers, three days after he shot 17 free throws in a loss to Phoenix. In both games, the defensive strategy was clear: Don’t let Dwight dunk on you at a 98 percent clip when you can send him to the line and take your chances 50/50. Read More »

Principal D-Stern had to have been pleased with his product yesterday, as two of the NBA’s three preseason games took place outside the United States. In Taiwan, the Pacers blew out the Nuggets: Troy Murphy put up 20 points with four threes, and Brandon Rush (20 pts) knocked down six triples, but the real story was Roy Hibbert. The kid was a BEAST, going for 20 points, 11 boards and eight blocks. Granted, Nene being out meant Denver started Johan Petro at center, but he only played 10 minutes before Birdman and K-Mart assumed most of the duties inside. It’s just preseason, but in the Nuggets‘ two games against NBA teams (they smashed a team of kids from Belgrade), they haven’t looked good at all … Read More »

No sports lends itself to the “If” game more than basketball. Because so much of one man’s success depends on his teammates, because different eras are so hard to compare, and because none of us really knows as much as we think we do, basketball arguments almost always break down into a series of “If this” (If Kobe was on the Cavs…) and “If that” (If Stockton didn’t have Mailman…) and “What if?” (What if Mike hadn’t retired?) Read More »